The Inspiring Women of 7shifts

On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the tremendous impact that women make around the world every single day. We’re proud to work with so many exceptional female-identifying Shifties. So for International Women’s Day, we asked our team to nominate the women at 7shifts who have inspired them. Some of the recurring themes we heard? The women at 7shifts are:

• Not afraid to stand up for what they believe in
• Always their authentic selves
• Eager to embrace new challenges
• Advocates for their teammates

And they each demonstrate our core values every day.

Our core values drive and unite us

B.E.A.M.S. Not just another acronym. These are the foundational pillars that make up 7shifts. They
guide us with our mission and vision and inform the way we work – day in and day out. We live and breathe them – celebrating when they are personified, and course correcting when needed.

1. Be radically candid: You always deal in an honest, direct and respectful way.
2. Embrace new challenges: You are open and adaptable to change and are willing to step out of your comfort zone, pushing yourself towards continuous self-improvement.
3. Act like an owner: You instinctively put the business needs before your own and have a bias towards action.
4. Make every experience an 11: You go above and beyond to create exceptional experiences for customers and colleagues.
5. Solve with simplicity and speed: You are able to break down a problem and propose a simple solution.

The Women

We randomly drew one winner from each core value category to donate $250 to a women’s organization of their choice.

Be Radically Candid

Winner: Shannon Delarosbil

“Shannon is not afraid to call out unfair situations and stand for what she believes in, even if it could cause discomfort. She is truly herself. If she has an opinion that people around her disagree with, she holds her ground. She is very open about her experiences and I’m glad to learn about her experiences and identity!

During a marketing meet-up, I made a heteronormative comment and Shannon immediately addressed it (with care). It helps me be more conscious of what I say and how it might make others feel, especially when it’s not everybody’s truth!” –Sam Fung

Shannon’s Charity of Choice: Chez Doris

Embrace New Challenges

Winner: Martina Rauert

“Martina has been a technical leader in a department and industry that is comprised overwhelmingly of men from the early days of 7shifts. Despite being extremely effective in this environment she always approaches everything and everyone with a deep kindness that inspires me to do the same.

Martina has provided guest lectures to the UofS and has been one of the extremely few female speakers at Sask Dev Talks. She embraces these unique challenges and by doing so contributes to a, hopefully not distant, future where women are commonplace in these roles.”-Raul Chedrese

Martina’s Charity of Choice: OUT Saskatoon

Act Like an Owner

Winner: Shelby Thomson

“Having other women around me in technical roles or as ICs, while important to me, has been relatively rare in my career. Having coworkers not only in those positions but owning them and regularly displaying their strong technical skills and leadership is so inspiring to me and Shelby is one of those people I have looked up to right from the day I started at 7Shifts.

When I started at 7Shifts, I had many questions to bring to the Labor team. Shelby picked up answering my questions, made sure I had all the info I needed, and represented the team with respect to the work I was doing.” –Sadie Swanson

Shelby’s Charity of Choice: Canada Learning Code

Make Every Experience an 11

Winner: Sam Fung

“Sam wrote a very inspiring blog about women in the restaurant industry, and how the industry needs to step up and make the industry better for women. This blog was so powerful and resonated with me so much, it is an absolute masterpiece.

For the marketing offsite this past summer, Sam put in all the admin work, planning everything in a mass excel sheet including all of our meals, events, team building, etc. She was a complete superhero, providing everyone with such a good experience while we were visiting Toronto for the Collision tech event!” –Brooke Boehm

Sam’s Charity of Choice: Trans People of Colour Project

Solve With Simplicity & Speed

Winner: Robyn Chatlain

“Robyn is always trail-blazing, proving she can do anything that is thrown her way in the quickest, most efficient, and most impactful way possible. She’s worked with various vendors taking on huge projects like designing the new office space at river landing, earning trust and respect in areas that are sometimes more male-dominated. She’s also been an advocate for equity, ensuring all voices and perspectives are always taken into consideration anytime any decision is made.

One week before 300 Shifties arrived in Saskatoon, we found out that our Friday venue was no longer a good fit for us. After planning out an entire day’s worth of activities, that involved over 300 people and activities, maps, and communications, Robyn (over the weekend) was able to secure a new venue, send out comms internally and start moving our plan to this new space. She took what seemed like a non-fixable issue and turned it around within 48 hours.” –Jordan Farr

Robyn’s Charity of Choice: Heart Linked

All Nominees

Below are the rest of the amazing female-identifying Shifties (7shifts employees) that were nominated by their peers for International Women’s Day.

Be Radically Candid

Nominee: Katarina Rajic

“Kat doesn’t let her gender hold her back from anything. She is graceful and caring when she gives feedback. She never loses her composure and has a passion for her team which is utterly inspiring.

Kat always asks kindly are you open to feedback and she delivers her feedback in such a constructive and caring way. She truly wants to help develop people.”
–Ashley Ledford

Nominee: Kiara Calladine

“Kiara is a strong leader who’s not scared to stand up for what she believes in. She has a strong moral compass, and has a way of understanding issues and providing insights and solutions that represent her values. She’s not afraid to speak up when she sees and issue and teams that work closely with Kiara are better for it.

Kiara has never been afraid to speak up when she notices an issue. She often advocates for her teammates, our customers, and our product.”
–Logan Kopas

Embrace New Challenges

Nominee: Shelby Thomson

“Shelby challenges stereotypes as a female software developer every day! The ratio of men to women in software development is very heavily weighted towards men as it is. But Shelby isn’t just a developer on the team, she’s a leader which is even more rare. She’s always offering to help others, breakdown big problems and advocate for all of us in technical discussions while also being incredibly approachable and easy to work with.

Shelby quickly volunteered to lead a new project that will be incredibly valuable for our users, but technically challenging. She dove right into exploring the space without hesitation, giving me even more confidence in the project knowing that someone like Shelby is leading it.”
–Hannah Duncan

Nominee: Sam Fung

“Sam is an exceptional woman who inspires confidence in everyone around her. Sam fearlessly speaks up when something is wrong, and her honesty is a refreshing reminder of how important it is to be candid. Sam is not afraid to embrace new challenges in our rapidly growing company, and her adaptability is a true testament to her strength and resilience.

When it was time to make real changes in Sam’s role to positively impact her career growth, she embraced it like a true champion. Transitioning to a new specialty within the marketing field can be challenging, but Sam’s willingness to learn and adapt has been inspiring.”
–Vahag Aydinyan

Act Like an Owner

Nominee: Rachel Grossman

“Rachel pairs her unparalleled work ethic with the ability to be vulnerable in the workplace. As a woman, it is easy to fear being labeled as emotional or to come across the wrong way when (respectfully) pushing back or holding ground. Rachel challenges this by always being her authentic self, emotions and all, in the workplace and encourages other women to do the same.

Rachel constantly goes above and beyond what is asked of her to ensure she has full context and understanding on what’s required of a solution or strategy even when she doesn’t have the expertise or experience in that area.” –Natalie Sauve

Make Every Experience an 11

Nominee: Anna Marriott

“Anna inspires me by always being her authentic self and bringing joy and light heartedness to our days. She is always willing to go above and beyond to help and is just a blast to work with. I wanna be like Anna when I grow up <3

Any time I meet with Anna or work on a project together she makes my experience an 11 by making it fun, efficient, speedy and oh did I mention we have fun? She is a rockstar at her job which makes my job easier and I love working with her. Anna, you are the best!!!!!!!”
–Janelle Marcotte

Nominee: Nayab Sabahat

“Nayab is a fearless and inspiring leader who motivates the folks working with her. She is always up for challenges and does an excellent job in executing it.

Every interaction with Nayab is joyful, she comes fully prepared for the meetings and provides direction to the task. Her project management skills are spot on.”
–Fernandez Vijayraj

Nominee: Allie McMillan

“Allie has embraced the extremely challenging role of CFO while also being an amazing mother to her children. It is SO inspiring to me to see her pursuing a career successfully while raising a wonderful family! She is also so kind and cares about her colleagues so much.

Hearing about Allie’s children and her family life all the while balancing a challenging career has inspired me so much! She is also so kind and cares about her colleagues so much.”
–Jessica Tomtene

Nominee: Libby DeCamps

“Libby is a natural leader whose confidence and genuine interest in her colleagues have made her a strong leader of the marketing team. Her ability to inspire and motivate those around her is a true testament to her leadership skills. Libby’s dedication to her work and her team is truly inspiring.

Libby is a remarkable leader who makes everyone on the team feel heard and accepted when communicating with her. Her authenticity and genuine interest in people create a safe space where everyone can confidently share their thoughts and ideas, even during difficult situations or decision-making.”
–Vahag Aydinyan

Solve With Simplicity & Speed

Nominee: Hannah Duncan

“Hannah has been a powerhouse ever since she started at 7shifts. She is a huge motivator for our whole team and helps keep us on track.

Hannah consistently solves with simplicity and speed. Her quick thinking and business mindset help us solve the right problems while also considering the most lightweight solutions.” –Shelby Thomson

We have SO many more incredible women at 7shifts, and we’re inspired by and grateful for them every day. Happy International Women’s Day!